Probably been discussed a thousand times before but I'm looking at starting to upgrade, currently I have a mint untweaked Technics SL-1200MK5 with AT120E, had both now for about 8 years from new, I have around £500 burning a hole in my pocket I was looking at getting an Ortofon 2M Black to replace the AT not questioning if that's a good cartridge by the reviews on here its fantastic but would there be a bigger bang for buck upgrade than the cartridge, would it be lost on my stock deck? I can do small tweaks like adding another mat, changing the feet over time as they are small upgrades & I don't have the technical ability or confidence to change arms so at the moment I want to stick to the stock parts but getting the max out of them
Hey, I used to have one of these tables. Here's a thread I posted, I think halfway down the mods are listed. The KAB external PSU is the most important one, along with the toneearm damper. Before investing in the tonearm mods, you might consider a few of the kits for swapping a high quality tonearm...I'd have to search for it. I'm pretty sure Jeff Dorgay experimented with tonearms and wrote a TONE Audio article about it.
Not an entirely new subject. Personally the most important, and maybe the only one that is a distinctive improvements; is the fluid damper.
Sell it and buy a GR or G ! (Forget the insanely expensive bearing and platter upgrades such as Mike New).
I would reccomended VM540ML VM540ML Dual Moving Magnet Cartridge || Audio-Technica US Get a rubber mat. What Phono pre amp are you using? I have the 1210mkII.. I rega fono preamp.. all sound wonderful. It's up to you though. You could get all this for well under £500. The micro line stylus is superb. Say goodbye to IGD
Using a Yaqin ms 12b with JJ Tesla ECC82 & Sovtek 12AX7LPS Tubes, happy with that after swapping the stock valves
Yeah the choice is the problem. The MLX is a nice choice but now discontinued, I would go for any AT that has the micro line stylus.
There are a few MLX still about although it's discontinued is it still worth a good shout or has it been replaced, I notice there is an AT 150Sa I take it that's not a micro line
If you're in the UK, Timestep do a PSU that gets a good write up. This month's Hi Fi World has a good piece on upgrading the new SL1210, so you might get some tips from that. Check out Inspire Hifi in Chesterfield too. They do upgrades for Rega, Linn and others, so maybe worth a glance.
A mk 5 fetches daft money. Sell it and buy a new 1200GR. Difference should be less than the OP's £500.
I know prices are daft but there is nothing wrong with my mk5 I have had it from new and is mint, just got upgradeitus, would the GR be much of an upgrade bearing in mind by Cart is quite old now and could do with replacing
The new designs certainly sound better but not sure by how much the GR would improve. For roughly same outlay as modding the deck (or less) it is an alternative worth considering. Also I think the Mk5 may be worth more money if kept original especially in mint condition. Whatever way you go factor in a cartridge change but I wouldn't spend on the 2M Black as I think it's way too pricey for a MM and fussy about alignment and record condition. Maybe a Bronze or better AT. I don't know how the new MM range sounds and appears prices have risen in UK without the discounts found on the old range. Maybe just replace the 120 stylus with the latest equivalent if you change the deck? You could also consider a Goldring 1022 or 1024. Now a bit pricey but the 1042 does sound great assuming current production is a good as they used to be.
thanks, i'm steering away from the Black, I know its a great cart but due to it being fussy as I have a lot of old vinyl that is not pristine so I think I would get frustrated with it, I will have to stick with a MM due to my phone stage, i'll look into the bronze and the Goldring, there's just too much choice!!!
for the price of the Black I could get KAB fluid damper Funk Firm Achromat OM Bronze/AT150Sa or if I can find one an AT150MLX if I stretch my budget a bit
Denon DL110 is good on that table and arm. Or a Nagaoka MP20 or Dynavector 10x5 ? AT's are lean, avoid. Cartridge would be the best first upgrade. Then phono stage.
Had the Kab fluid damper and honestly it was a waste of money. Really made no difference. Just drove you insane trying to tell the difference. Make sure you have arubber mat and not a felt DJ one.
I highly recommend starting with a very cheap ($5-8) but effective mod- heat shrink the tonearm. If your system has any resolving power whatsoever, you will hear significant improvements. Yet another cheap mod is to get a vibrostop platter (around $30 or so) Another mod that I found to be very effective was changing out the main bearing to the IanMac bearing. That mod costs around $175 but very worthwhile. If you do the bearing upgrade, might as well do the $3 KAB thrust plate wax mod. All of these will add up to performance well beyond stock. I only have experience with the Denon line of cartridges - DL110, DL160, DL301Mk2, DL103R potted in aluminum body. Out of these, the DL103R potted in an aluminum body is the best.
OM Bronze.... you mean 2M Bronze? I've heard the 2M Bronze - mighty good cartridge. Not that outrageous in price.
yes it was the 2M Bronze, sorry for any confusion, I like the idea of getting it on a plug and play headshell